Cinders
by danikat
Summary: Ren x Kyoko. Ren gets a kitten. Mayhem results.
1. Chapter 1

It was a normal rainy afternoon as Ren walked down the street. Suddenly, he heard a mewling sound coming from the cardboard box he just passed. He went back, and in the box he saw a black kitten with wide gold-brown eyes. Looking at the poor little wet kitten, Ren was reminded of the little girl he met in the woods all those years ago. Sighing, he picked up the soggy cat, placed her inside his coat to avoid any more rain water getting on her, and headed for his apartment.

Upon arriving at his apartment, Ren found a towel and started to dry himself and his new charge. After he was satisfied with his work on drying the cat, he went to the kitchen. Ren got down a bowl, filled it with milk, and set it down on the floor for the kitten. The kitten wandered into the kitchen and saw the bowl. When she discovered the milk inside, she began to drink. Watching the kitten, Ren decided she needed a name. Thinking of how she reminded him of the girl he loved, he picked a fairytale name. "I think I'll call you Cinders, like Cinderella." The kitten, now named Cinders, looked up and blinked at him before returning to her milk.

When Cinders finished her milk, Ren picked her up and took her into his bedroom. Placing her on his bed, he watched her curl up and go to sleep as he changed into his pajamas. Then he turned off the lights, climbed into bed , and went to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**Sorry for not putting this on the 1****st**** chapter. This is my first fanfic. Thanks for all the reviews. Hope you like it.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Skip Beat!**

Ren awoke to a heavy lump on his chest. Sitting up, he yelped as needles pierced his skin. Looking down, he saw Cinders clinging to the front of his shirt. He reached up and gently removed the kitten and set her on his bed. Getting up, he laughed as she attacked his feet through the covers.

Ren walked into the kitchen as the phone rang. He picked up the phone, answering it, "Hello." "Ren, this is Yashiro. Just making sure you were up. I'm coming over so we can get to your movie shoot by 8." Ren sighed, "Ok," and hung up. Looking down at Cinders, who had followed him into the kitchen, he muttered, "Sometimes I wonder if he's my manager or my babysitter." Cinders meowed as if in agreement.

Letting his mind wander, his thoughts returned to Kyoko Mogami. He thought back to that incident a few weeks ago. He met her again as she rushed down the stairs yelling his 'fairy' name. He almost believed she had recognized her childhood friend, but no, she was looking for the stone he had just picked up. Showing it to her, he was surprised by the reappearance of that young girl he had met. Ren was rather certain but just to make sure she was **his** Kyoko, he asked if she had lived in Kyoto. Now she had replied that she did, and he needed an excuse to have asked. He also wanted to know how much of that little girl was left in her, so he played a trick on her. Ren knew he shouldn't, but he couldn't help teasing her further. That is, until she snapped and showed him someone he never would have believed was his Kyoko. Sighing, he figured he had probably over done it anyway.

Ren was snapped out of his reminiscence by the doorbell, signaling Yashiro's arrival. "Come in," he shouted as he headed for the door, Cinders in tow. Yashiro walked in the door and shut it behind him. "Ren, we have a packed schedule today. We need to get moving! Have you eaten breakfast yet? Do you need…What is that?" he asked, pointing at Cinders. "Oh," Ren said, "this is Cinders. I found her in the rain the other day. I couldn't just leave her." Yashiro looked skeptical but shrugged, rolling his eyes at Ren. Bending down he went to pet her, only to have his hand playfully tackled. He straightened to Ren laughter and tried to shrug it off. "I suppose she is hungry," Ren said, suppressing further chuckles. Going to the kitchen, now shadowed by both Cinders and Yashiro, Ren got down a plate and retrieved some leftover ham from the fridge. Putting it down for Cinders, he went to get dressed for the day. In his hurry to get to the studio, Ren's phone was left forgotten.


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry! I downloaded it incomplete. The document manager was down so I couldn't work on it. I tried to upload it so I could work on it, but that didn't work.**

**Thanks for all the reviews and help!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Skip Beat!

* * *

  
**

Ren was sitting outside the set utterly defeated. He didn't have his phone nor could he use anyone else's. He suddenly heard an oddly loud, and quite long, squeak. Looking around, he saw someone in a chicken suite trying to sneak away; probably attempting to not bother him. It was worth a shot. "If you don't mind…Can you help me, please?"

_It's over, _Ren thought_, the person in the chicken suite doesn't have a phone. Now they'll ask questions I don't want to answer._ "Could it be," the chicken person asked, "you don't understand something in the script, so you're trying to look it up?" Ren knew he was in trouble now. "...Of course not," Ren replied, panicking slightly, "It's nothing as stupid as that." Ren knew this flimsy response was more or less useless. "But, it's a matter of principle for celebrities to deny things like that even when they're true," the chicken person countered. Ren was startled by this insight into his mind. It got worse as the chicken person went on. Ren's temper got the better of him, causing him to actually glare at the person easily discussing the details of his inner feelings. The glare caused the chicken person to grovel and apologise while saying he really hated Ren, which was rather funny. Ren snickered at this. The matter settled, Ren discussed his problem with the chicken person.

"I have no idea what kind of dance this 'tenteko-mai' really is," Ren said in the most serious of faces, "I honestly have no clue..." The knowledge of the real meaning of 'tenteko-mai' set the chicken person laughing. Finally, the chicken person explained to Ren what was so funny, leaving him severely embarrassed. After Yashiro came and Ren was talking with the chicken person about how many times he had been fired. He lost count somewhere around 24, but he seemed to have accomplished cheering up the chicken person. Then came more uncomfortable questions. Questions Ren would rather avoid. Ren went for the impossibly annoying approach, and shrugged in a phony American way. This produced the desired effect of aggravating the chicken person, but Ren got a laugh out of it.

Getting back to his appartment, Ren saw that Cinders had made a mess on the floor. Groaning, he hit himself in the forehead with his palm. _Of course she made a mess_, Ren thought, _she doesn't have a litter box._ Sighing, he got to work cleaning the mess off the floor. When he finished, he went into the kitchen to fix himself, and Cinders, dinner. Cinders gazed up at him with wide, innocent eyes. Who could hate those eyes? Ren snorted. "I bet it's your fault I forgot my phone," he said as he set down Cinder's food. Cinders blinked up at him like she was saying, 'It's not my fault,' before beginning to eat. Ren sighed, "I suppose it wasn't that bad, though I made a fool of myself in front of a total stranger." Ren ate his food thoughtfully. "I've never met such a strange person before, that's for sure." Cinders looked up and meowed as if in agreement. Ren shook his head, turned out the lights, and went to bed.

* * *

**Hopefully this will become more interesting when Kyoko starts coming over. Thanks for the reviews! Hope this isn't horrible.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Thanks for all the reviews! For who knows what reason, I now have the end planned out. Whop-de-do. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Skip Beat!

* * *

**

Ren sighed as he shut his phone. He should have known today would be a bad day. Cinders had left a hairball on his favorite jacket this morning. Shaking his head, he looked at his "replacement manager". She looked nervous as he ran his hand through his hair. "You can leave now," he said as he walked towards the door. Kyoko Mogami became flustered at this, reminding him it was her assignment to look after him as a manager. Ren snorted at this causing Kyoko to become sulky and muttering about how she could do a manager's job fine. "Oh," Ren replied to her half heard comment, "Really?" He smiled sarcastically, planning on making her give up before the end of the day.

The next day Kyoko watched Ren from the wing of the set. She thought about the chaos that was her attempt at helping Ren as a manager and she was determined not to repeat her performance from the previous day.

Ren, however, had thoughts of his own. He was slightly annoyed that his plan hadn't worked and she was still trying to handle his impossible schedule. Not only that, his fan girls were attacking his every time he tried to change locations. Even if she was his stand in manager, he wasn't going to let her get hurt because of something as pointless as mobs of fan girls, and it seemed to Ren, it was really the president's fault she was mistaken as a worker in that outfit. Though, now he thought about it, he wanted her to be discouraged and here he was coming up with excuses for why it wasn't her fault she was doing a bad job. In the car, she seemed depressed or angry about something. "Sorry," she said, not looking at Ren. He looked over at her, "About what?" Kyoko proceeded to explain to him she was referring to the trouble she had caused. Ren reminded her she had already apologized for that at the set. Then Ren heard a strange noise. Looking around to make sure the sound wasn't coming from his car, he spotted Kyoko trying to cover up the noise emitting from her stomach. Ren looked at her curiously, realizing that she must be hungry. Looking at the clock, he saw that it was 7:30 p.m. Realizing this, he asked her what she would like to eat, remembering her favorite food was fried eggs. After some consideration, she said, "I'll eat what ever you want to eat." Ren smiled, considering how to best tease her. "Then how about roasted frog legs?" "Noooo! I don't want to eat that!"

Ren watched Kyoko nearly come to tears as she looked at her steak and fried egg. She looked like she was off in her own little fantasy again. He remembered her behavior on this particular subject as a child. She had been so ridiculous and innocent, it was still funny. Ren snickered just at the thought of it. This of course caused Kyoko to become suspicious as to his motive for laughing. His smile caused some fan girls sitting near them to start talking, distracting Kyoko and making her mad. Ren headed for the car, sighing. He knew it would be alright, but he was still worried. When she reached the car and they had started down the road, he asked her, "You didn't like your high school because of Sho Fuwa?"

At this remark, Kyoko stiffened. She said, "I'm only a stepping stone to him." Ren, thinking back, vaguely remembered her mentioning her prince "Sho". He should have thought of that earlier. She continued talking about how she would make him regret abandoning her. Ren sighed, "I knew that was your reason for getting into show business." He said, rather bluntly, that he didn't approve of this reason for acting. Kyoko looked shocked. "It isn't like that, Tsuruga-san," she said, attempting to stand,"My reason for studying acting is...Bam!" Her head hit the ceiling of the car. "Did you forget you were in a car?" Ren was then shocked as Kyoko began to vibrate. Sitting down again and searching her bag, soon producing a cell phone. Answering it, she was then yelled at by the president for not answering earlier. He said he had a surprise concerning her and if she was interested in going to high school. She looked so happy and said, "Yes, I am! Definitely!"

The next morning, he was at the hair stylist's shop relating his conversation earlier that week with Yashiro and bragging that he had never gotten sick before. Kyoko, behind him was frantically filling out a study sheet for an exam. Ren remembered her crying because she hadn't gotten a 100 on the test. Always pushing herself for perfection.

Ren coughed again as he waited for the next scene to start. He rubbed his throat, unconsciously. Ren sighed, shaking his head, which had become fuzzy over the course of the day. He'd try some tea with milk and sugar added. "Abnormal," a voice behind Ren said, causing him to jump as he faced the speaker. Seeing Kyoko there behind the corner he asked, "What are you doing?" As if he couldn't tell she was spying on him. She explained that his behavior was odd and his lies didn't affect her thoughts at all. When he half-heartedly explained his discomfort, she seemed interested and asked him how he felt specifically with detailed questions. She then diagnosed him as having a cold. Ren laughed at this causing Kyoko to become annoyed. They spent several hours arguing about whether Kyoko was right or not, the argument not settled when Ren dropped her off at her home.

At his apartment, Ren consulted Cinders. "Do you think I have a cold?" Cinders looked up at him like 'I think your an idiot for not listening to her. Does that count?' Ren rolled his eyes at her. "Yeah, well who asked you?" Again, Cinders looked at him with a 'You did, idiot. Don't you remember?' expression. As he attempted to look affronted, Cinders walked off to his room and went to sleep. Ren shook his head, coughing slightly, and went to bed too.

* * *

**At least the chapters are getting longer. Sorry Cinders doesn't play as big a role in this chapter though. Too tired to do any more to it**.


	5. Chapter 5

**Thanks for the reviews! Started a new series that will probably go no where. Need to work on pronouns, characterization, and deviating slightly from original plot. I probably have to work on that on this one too. D'oh!  
**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Skip Beat!

* * *

**Ren woke up tired and dizzy. Cinders had her face in his, inspecting him. Ren gently shoved Cinders away and put his hand to his forehead. He wasn't sure, but it felt like he had a fever. Sighing, he swung his legs around to stand. The movement made him dizzy again. "I suppose this predicament means I'm a fool." Cinders mewed in agreement. Ren shook his head and headed to get dressed. Cinders followed him around like she was worried he would fall over. "I can't stay home. I have to get Mogami-san and get to work." Ren managed to get out the door and to his car without much trouble. Cinders paced in front of the door before heading to the bedroom to sleep again. After all, what else can a kitten do?

Ren somehow managed to get to Kyoko's place and to the set without crashing as Kyoko took his temperature. "See," she said as she waved the thermometer, reading 100.94 degrees Fahrenheit. Ren tearing due to the fever and embarrassment. "Why would I get a cold?" Ren muttered slightly shocked. "Ren," Kyoko said looking exasperated, "In reality, you don't usually eat properly, do you?" Ren guiltily thought back to last night, remembering that he hadn't eaten at all when he got home. He wasn't even sure he had fed Cinders. "The supervisor admitted it last night when I reported in." Kyoko looked kind of miffed when she admitted this. Ren thought, _Sometimes Kyoko and Yashiro are so similar._ As he was thinking, Kyoko said, "You don't no right to be an actor, as irresponsible for yourself as you are." Ren was caught by surprise by this comment, and sank into a depression. "Waaa, to be reprimanded by you like this." Ren shuddered in his depression. "The director once said, 'If you're unable to take care of your own body, you're just a tool for others. Lacking profesionalism'." Kyoko continued to talk about how one should take care of their body, but Ren had stopped paying attention at the 'lacking profesionalism' comment. "I'm sorry," Ren said, sitting up and staring ahead, "You're right. I'm overconfident. If I had known earlier...I should have listened to you from the start." Ren shook his head as he got out of the car and headed for the set.

Ren stood around while the crew built the artificial rain contraption. Kyoko ran up to him, yelling, "Ren, wait a minute!" It seemed to have occurred to her what was going to happen. "You can't film like this! What if your condition gets worse?!" Ren shook his head, "It's my own fault. Besides, we can only use this location today." Ren stood in the rain contraption for the shooting while Kyoko looked on. He had been standing there for a good 20 minutes because the girl acting opposite him was having trouble with her lines. Again the director had to stop the filming because she had messed up. Sighing as the director and her manager argued, Ren walked up to the girl, "Don't worry. Calm down. Say 'It is too suspicious' ten times and you'll be fine." Ren stood up as she repeated her line over and over to memorize it. As the filming resumed Ren was barely conscious of what was happening.

Ren had sleep-walked to the waiting room and turned the heater on max before collapsing. Unfortunately, he collapsed on top of Kyoko. Ren was roused from his fevered sleep by the sound of the script's lines. He had to get up. Ren blinked awake, vaguely aware he had said his lines perfectly. Looking down, he saw a very shocked Kyoko. "What are you doing there?" Ren asked as he stood up. Ren wandered off, wondering, fuzzily, why his feet felt light and his head felt heavy. "Ren, I think it's better if you don't continue to work today." Ren stopped and turned around to look at Kyoko.

Ren had continued to film as Kyoko mysteriously disappeared. Near two, he received a box lunch from one of the workers. Heading to sit down, he got dizzy and started to fall, only to feel something pushing him back upright. Looking down, he saw Kyoko with a bunch of shopping bags. Sitting in the back of the car, Ren watched as Kyoko sorted though her bags. She prepared odd things every now and then, giving them to him to eat or use. He was shocked and confused by her caring attitude. As he thought about it, it must have been hard to get all these things in such a small amount of time. In the past, she had always been like this. Giving everything her all. Had he really missed this part of her because of her obsession with revenge?

Cinders started awake at the sound of the door opening. Running to the door, she saw Ren being talked through walking into the apartment by a strange girl. The girl didn't notice Cinders because she was so preoccupied with getting Ren in the apartment and comfortable. As she headed to Ren's room, half dragging him, Cinders leaned against the open door to shut it and followed. When the girl left Ren to let him get his pajamas on, Cinders jumped onto the bed. She nudged him when he stopped moving, ensuring that Ren wasn't only wearing his underwear when the girl returned to tuck him in and get her equipment set up. Looking down she noticed Cinders. "Who are you?"

Upon arriving, Kyoko was so busy getting together the things Ren would need, she didn't notice the cat until she finished. "Who are you?" The cat meowed in response, or what probably would have been a response had she been human. Kyoko shook her head as she left to work on more medicines and things for Ren. _Who would have thought Ren was a cat person,_ she thought to herself a she worked.

While Kyoko was changing Ren's ice pack, he woke up. "Sorry. You can go back to sleep. I'm just replacing the ice." Ren smiled and said, "Thank you, Kyoko-chan." About two hours later, Kyoko woke out of her shock, noticing that it was already morning and she hadn't done any work in her exercise books. Frustrated, she got out her dolls to work on. Cinders walked in and inspected them. Kyoko ignored her until she sat down and proceeded to chew on the head of one of the Sho dolls. "Oi! Stop that!" Cinders looked up curiously, momentarily stopping her chewing. "Don't eat others' hard work!" Cinders tilted her head to the side before heading off into Ren's bedroom. Kyoko inspected the damage to the doll. The Sho doll's face now had a sort of smashed look, but was over-all ok. Kyoko rather thought this might be an improvement to the original Sho. Somewhere in a recording booth, the real Sho sneezed.

Later in the morning, Ren woke up with Cinders sleeping on the foot of the bed. Looking around he noticed the ice-bag, the feather pillow, and the fact he was in his pajamas. He also couldn't remember having anything to do with these things. He got up, waking Cinders up in the process and headed into the living-room. Looking around he saw the problem books laid out on the coffee table and realized Kyoko must have stayed over as Cinders walked out of his room. Walking to the kitchen, Ren was followed by the unnoticed Cinders. Ren interrupted Kyoko's studying in time to save one of her mysterious concoctions from burning. When Ren was sitting at the table with all the things she had made for him, Kyoko apologised for using the kitchen with out permission. "This is an odd colored drink," Ren said, inspecting one of the glasses before him. "It's a very nutritious drink that will help you get better," Kyoko replied without looking at him. Ren drank the whole thing in one go, his face falling. "You lied," he said as he set the glass back down. "I said it was good for you, not that it tastes good," Kyoko replied as he glared at her. Cinders made a sneezing-snorting sound at the look on Ren's face. "Oh yeah, well you lived in a box! So there!" Both Kyoko and Cinders stared at him with a 'You're so childish' look. "Oh yeah. What is her name Tsuruga-san?" "Oh," Ren said, bracing himself for the screaming, "Her name is Cinders." "OH! MY! GOSH! You mean like Cinderella?!" Kyoko screeched causing Cinders to jump. "Yeah," Ren said, wondering if that was such a good idea. "That is sooo cute!" Kyoko grabbed Cinders, pulling her up into her arms. Cinders squirmed a bit, but Ren noticed she didn't try to claw Kyoko to get free. Grabbing and drinking another glass of odd colored, foul-tasting liquid, Ren said, "Do you...hate me so much?"

Kyoko and Cinders stared at him before Kyoko went to take away the used dishes, putting Cinders down. Cinders looked at him like 'Now what, idiot?'. Ren sighed as he began to eat another of the odd things Kyoko had made him. "I had meant it as a joke but she probably does hate me now." Cinders walked over and gave him a supportive lick. Chuckling, Ren got to work eating the rest of the food, which actually tasted good. _She really hasn't changed at all._

Ren and Kyoko had left for a movie shoot Ren had to do for the morning. Kyoko was attempting to study while watching the filming. Exasperated, she went to get a different book out of her bag and found one of Ren's scripts. Flipping through the script, she noticed a sentence that was similar to the phrase had used that morning, 'Do you...hate me so much?'. Thinking it over she pulled out one of her Ren dolls. "You must be an idiot," she said to herself, impersonating Ren's voice. Ren came up behind her and asked, "Are you mimicking me or something?" Surprised, Kyoko jumped and attempted to hide the Ren doll. Once she stopped freaking out about whether or not he saw the doll, she looked around and noticed Ren was gone.

Ren sat in the stairwell, trying to understand the script. Looking through the script, he noticed the sentence that was similar to what he had said that morning. Sighing, he thought about how she had always given things she hated he all, even as a young child. _But, concerning Sho Fuwa, what is the point of her revenge?_ He thought she would be better off doing things for herself. He sighed, shaking his head, and going back to working on his script. As he said his lines aloud, he hear Kyoko respond in the proper tone with the responding lines. He was shocked she could not only remember the lines correctly, but she could reply with the correct emotion. Did she really only just start learning to act? He came face to face with her just as the line he had said earlier, 'Do you hate me so much?', came up. Was it really just for revenge? Kyoko said she was happy she got it right, leaving Ren surprised. "Why," he asked, "Didn't you learn to act to get revenge on Sho Fuwa?" "No!" Kyoko shouted, making Ren shocked. "I didn't want to learn acting because of him!" Ren asked, "Then why?" "To change into a new Kyoko Mogami. I've never done anything I waned to. It was always for someone else." Ren remembered that she had always striven to do the best in school for her mom and had worked hard to make herself better for Sho as a child. "But, I feel like doing this for myself. And this makes me happy." Ren remembered how acting had been like that for him. A chance at a new life. "I really do understand," he said, truly smiling at her.

Around 3 a.m. the next morning, Kyoko fell asleep at the coffee table with her work as Ren walked out of his room to refill his water bottle. Ren sat down next to her and fiddled with her hair while Cinders watched, trying to look uninterested. "You'll catch a cold if you sleep here," he said as she woke up. He was shocked as she jumped away from him. Cinders snorted and stalked off back to Ren's bedroom. "Why are you studying so hard? You're acting like you must get perfect." Ren shook his head, remembering how she would cry because she couldn't get a perfect score for her mom. Kyoko looked at him surprised, as if she had just realized she didn't need to get a 100 for her mom anymore. She started laughing, while Ren sat there and smiled at her. "Sleep over tonight and you can take a bath too." "But," Kyoko said, blushing slightly, "Taking a bath at a man's house..." Ren snorted, "What? Are you worried?" He shook his head and shrugged. And so began the yelling competition, though Ren wasn't really shouting. After a while, Cinders joined in just because they were being loud.

The next morning both Ren and Kyoko were annoyed and taking a cab because Ren still had a temperature of 99.5 degrees Fahrenheit. They were stuck in traffic and running late. "We could take the subway," Ren suggested. Kyoko looked at him like he had lost it. After Ren had paid the driver, he looked around and noticed Kyoko was missing. Getting out, he saw she had borrowed someone's bike. So Kyoko took of on the bike with Ren on the back. People they passed were freaked out at their speed, but Ren personally thought it was fun. Thrilling even. He made it to the shoot just in time and Kyoko was almost passing out as Yashiro arrived to take over so she could go take her test. Ren thought that was a shame because he hadn't had a chance to stamp her booklet before she left. _Oh well,_ Ren thought, _I can find her number and where she will be from the office latter._

* * *

**Stupid spell check almost convinced me that I misspelled 'book'. Arg!**


	6. Cinders Adventure

**Thanks for the reviews! I didn't feel like doing any work any this week. Watching Joshua from The World Ends With You dance the ****Paffendorf dance from Lucky Star on Youtube is more entertaining. So, I decided to do a Cinders Adventure!  
**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any anime/manga characters or plots that may appear in my story!

* * *

  
**

A few months after Ren got sick, Cinders followed Ren out the door without him noticing. She went to the elevator while Ren went down the stairs. Cinders wasn't certain what the odd doors were but figured they would open eventually. She looked down the hall, inspecting the area and had just seen a few kids wander from one room to another carrying boxes when the elevator doors opened. Walking in, she saw a bored older man with a newspaper get in next to her. He was preoccupied with his paper so he didn't notice her. Cinders was confused. Why did the doors open into a small box? Then she felt the floor move downward. Panicking, she ran around trying to figure out how to get back out. She finally calmed down enough to check on the old man's reaction. Looking up, she saw he hadn't moved much and was still reading. She figured it must not be much of a big deal or the man would be panicking as well. She had sat down just as the floor stopped moving and the doors opened. Cinders started to run out, but more people entered the small moving room. She hid behind the old man to prevent being noticed by these new people.

After a few more minutes of the room moving, stopping, and new people getting off and on, the doors opened and all the occupants of the room left. Cinders carefully exited the strange moving room. She followed some of the people out a new set of doors and found herself out on the street. Looking around, she couldn't see anything she recognized. She walked down the street, being careful to notice where things were in relation to her new home. As she rounded a corner, she came face to face with a rabbit with bright red eyes. Cinders mewed in surprise. The rabbit responded with a surprised, "Kyuu!" Cinders and the rabbit calmed down and inspected one another. Touching noses, they decided that the other wasn't a threat and they became friends.

"Oh! There you are, With," a red haired boy with crimson eyes said, bending down to pick up the rabbit. "I was looking all over for you! What did you run off for?" Looking down, the red haired boy noticed Cinders gazing up at him. Sighing, he said to the rabbit, "We don't have time for you to play with your new friend, but maybe you can come back some other time." The rabbit responded with a dejected, "Kyuu." The boy bent down, pet Cinders, and straightened, putting the rabbit on his head. "See you later, Cat," he said waving at Cinders as he walked off.

Cinders continued to wander around until it was nearly dark. She ran back to the entrance of the apartment building just as Ren opened the door. He didn't notice her as he headed for the stairs, muttering so that only a few words like girl, stupid, self-satisfaction, Yashiro, manager, and ARG! were actually distinguishable. The 'arg' was the result of Ren trying to kick a wall. Needless to say, the wall won. Cinders watched all this in amusement as she followed him up the stairs.

Once Ren opened the apartment door, Cinders slipped in before he noticed she had even been out. As he turned around to go to the kitchen, he spotted her. "I'll bet you had another boring day in my rooms, didn't you?" Cinders gave him a cat grin and meowed. Ren shook his head and rolled his eyes. Cats were just too mysterious for him.

* * *

**Hope you liked it. Will, maybe, do more this week. I have a lot of tests coming up, so don't expect too much. Interested to see how many people can recognize the characters I used.**


	7. Chapter 6

**Sorry I haven't done anything the past week or so. Thanks for the reviews! Hope you like the new chapter. Introducing an OC. This ought to be interesting anyway.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Skip Beat!**

* * *

Several months after the incident with Sho's PV, Ren was walking down the hall in the LME building. He had brought Cinders with him in a basket, and she was now following him around the LME office. After passing a sitting room, he thought he saw Kyoko walking ahead of him. Calling out, he was surprised when she didn't stop. Jogging to catch up, he put a hand on 'her' shoulder. As 'she' turned around, Ren was surprised to find himself facing a teenage boy with blue eyes looking back at him. If he didn't know better, he might have thought it was a younger version of himself. The boy smiled and said in English, "I'm sorry. I didn't know you were calling me." Ren, shaking himself out of his shock, replied, "I mistook you for someone else. It's my fault entirely."

The boy smiled and held out his hand. "My name is Matt. Matt Randal. What is your name?" Ren, slightly shocked, took Matt's hand and shook it, replying, "My name is Ren Tsuruga." Matt nodded, smiling, and asked, "Do you know where the office for the Love Me group is? I was told to report there, but I'm not sure where it is." Ren nodded and gave Matt directions. Matt gave his thanks and ran off to find it. Unnoticed, Cinders followed him.

-

Matt finally arrived at the Love Me office while Cinders walked behind him. He walked up to Sawara-san and asked, "Am I in the office for the Love Me group?" "Yes," Sawara-san replied, confused, "Is there any particular reason you are looking for it?" Looking relieved, Matt replied, "Yes, the president said that when I arrived here in Japan, I was to come directly here." "Oh," Sawara-san said, now comprehending what was going on, "You're that new kid who was transferred here from America for your debut." Sawara-san nodded to himself, searching his desk for the papers about the transfer. He found it and brought it forward, "It says here that you are to be assigned to work on a project for this month, starting this afternoon. Till then you can meet the rest of the crew here." He picked up the phone and started dialing.

While Sawara-san was calling up the other Love Me members, Matt looked around the office. His eyes wandered down until he spotted Cinders sitting near his feet, inspecting him curiously. Bending down, Matt picked Cinders up, and pet her until she purred. Smiling to himself, he quietly asked, "What are you doing here, silly cat?" Cinders, of course, did not reply and just gave him a cat-grin. Chuckling slightly he resumed looking around, tuning out Sawara-san's conversation until he heard"Ok. You'll be here in about five minutes with Kyoko-chan, right?" Then he watched Sawara-san's reactions to his conversation until it was ended with "Don't forget to pick up that extra Love Me outfit on the way in."

Sawara-san looked from hanging up the phone, and saw Matt watching him with the cat in his arms. "How did you get that thing in here?", he asked pointing at Cinders. "Oh, her," Matt said looking down at Cinders, "She was here when I came in, I think." He shrugged, not really worried about the origins of the mysterious cat. Sawara-san scowled, but shook his head. Last thing he needed today was a pointless argument about a stupid cat. "The other members of Love Me are on their way here, but I thought you might want to know more about them while you wait," Sawara-san began shuffling papers on his desk while he talked, "Kyoko-chan and Kotonami-san are the two other current members. Kotonami-san is usually strict and sometimes outspoken, but I think she is the more responsible of the two. Kyoko-chan, on the other hand, tends to have her head in the clouds. She had no idea what she wanted to do when she came here, and she has no clear goals in mind that any real actors and actresses would respect." Sawara-san seemed both apprehensive about the subject of the girls' personalities and proud.

After a few moments of silence on both sides, the door slammed open, revealing a black-haired girl and an auburn-haired girl. They walked in, the auburn-haired one smiling and dancing around. "Ah," Sawara-san said, looking over at them, "Here you are. Ladies, this is Matt. He just came from America and is joining the Love Me group." "Matt, this is Kyoko-chan," he said pointing at her, then moving his finger to the other girl, "and this is Kotonami-san."

Matt walked over and offered his free hand to Kotonami. She just looked at him and Cinders with a stiff look and nodded. Turning to Kyoko, Matt tried again to shake hands, but Kyoko had spotted Cinders. "What are you doing here, Cinders? Won't Ren be worried about you?" She reached over and took Cinders from Matt, inspecting her for damage. He sighed and ruffled his hair with his previously occupied hand. Content that the cat was happy and unharmed, Kyoko returned her attention to Matt. She smiled and asked, "How long are you planning on being here in Japan?" Matt shrugged and said, "I'll probably be here for a while. I'm not really sure." He smiled at her and she smiled at him, both of them feeling that they would soon become good friends.

-

Later that evening, Matt was at the project set with the director when he spotted Ren. He had been carrying Cinders around all afternoon, unsure of what he should do with her. He excused himself from the director's presence and walked over to Ren. "Hey there Ren," Matt said smiling and waving with his free hand. "Oh, hey," Ren said recognising Matt, then spotting Cinders said, "I had wondered where she had wandered off to. I figured she had found Kyoko-chan and she was going to bring her over later. Thanks for bringing her back." Ren smiled and picked Cinders up out of Matt's arms. Matt nodded and said, "Kyoko-chan recognized her in the Love Me office. I didn't think I would find you here, but I didn't know what else to do with her other than take her with me."

They were talking together about Cinders, when Yashiro came up behind Matt. He didn't realize that the person in front of him wasn't Kyoko and asked teasingly, "Kyoko-chan, are you and Ren having an affair behind my back?" Matt turned around quickly to face Yashiro, blushing and looking confused. Seeing Yashiro, he blushed deeper and ran off. "What did you go and do that for, Yashiro-san?", Ren asked looking annoyed, "If that had been Kyoko-chan, she would have been even more embarrassed then Matt was!" Yashiro blushed, looking down at Ren's feet and said, "Sorry. I didn't really mean to upset anyone. I was just teasing."

Ren sighed and looked down at Cinders, who he was still holding. "You would never do anything as embarrassingas that, would you Cinders?" Cinders blinked at him and shook her head as if in agreement. Ren smiled at her and headed for his car. The project's filming had finished for the day, and he had to get home for a few hours of sleep. Yashiro jogged to keep up. "Honestly, Ren. I didn't know it wasn't Kyoko-chan. I thought that regardless of how embarrassingit was she deny any relationship with you outside of work-related necessity." Ren sighed. He knew that was what she would have said in the event of such an accusation, but it still bothered him Yashiro would have even teased her about such a possibility.

After Ren had dropped Yashiro off and had entered his apartmentwith Cinders, he sighed and plopped down on the sofa. Today had been an interesting disaster. His filming had gone alright, but his social life was headed for the drain. Cinders climbed into his lap and settled down, purring. Absent-minded, Ren pet her still staring into space. He shook his head and decided his problems could wait for another day and headed to bed.

* * *

**I know most of you are probably upset that I took down _Gender-Bender_, but I really don't have the time or the imagination to devote to such a big project. If you want it, you can use it. I really don't mind.**

**My ability to get on and post anything will be decreasing because my parents' computer is dead, my brother's doesn't have word, and we are going cross-country from Nevada to West Virginia. [sarcasm] Real fun here. [/sarcasm]**


	8. Chapter 7

**Arg... I'm sick, having some weird sort of writers block, and Common Sense Deprivation. So...We're going to pretend that I didn't forget to double check what was going on in the manga before writing the last chapter. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Skip Beat! Trust me, my drawing isn't that good.

* * *

**

Ren, with Cinders following him, was walking to the President's house(?). "Thank you for waiting. Please come in." Ren was led to the president's private room. "Sorry for coming so early." Ren smiled sheepishly. The President shook his head and said, "No, I'm usually up this time of day because I'm rebroadcasting 'Ai No Oo Arashi'." The President picked up a small bag and held it out to Ren. "Here is the thing you requested a few days ago." "Thanks," Ren said smiling, "I'm saved." "How was you old phone broken anyway? Was there a woman involved? ...Impossible. You're to boring to do anything like that." _Uh-oh_, Ren though, _here it comes,_ as Cinders laughed/coughed near his ankles. He tried to sneak out before it started but he got caught.

"Ren." Ren sighed, sat down, and waited out the barrage. "You're too clean. Lots of women who would be interested in you aren't because you don't feature in any gossip columns so you seem uninteresting. You also manage your interactions so that any women you meet are treated as only friends. Not that I'm saying to play around with a woman's feelings either." Ren sat there silently listening to the President's complaints, slightly confused. Did he want Ren to be bashed in gossip columns? Cinders, on the other hand, was laying on the floor next to his feet, rolling around in what looked like a laughing fit. He poked her gently with his toe to make her stop, momentarily anyway.

"By the way Ren. I was meaning to ask you this." Pointing down at Cinders he asked, "What is that?" Cinders grumbled. '_That_'. She was always called '_that_'. Never '_it_' or even '_that almighty goddess of cuteness_'. Everyone who asked could clearly tell she was a cat. It was kind of obvious wasn't it. But _**no**_, it was always 'What is _that?_'. "Oh," Ren said looking down at her, "This is Cinders. She is acting as supervisor in the absence of Yashiro-san or something."

"Anyway,I know you don't want to get too close to people," when the President said this, Ren got a dark look on his face, "But I'm worried about your future as an actor. Most people are fooled, but not me." Ren looked up confused. "Your acting about love is too fake." The shocked look on Ren's face when the President said this started Cinder's laughing fit again. "Every time I see your acting in dramas, I feel this way. Luckily for you, the love you are doing isn't the main point in the drama, but you won't last long if you can't act in a hard romance drama."

-

Kyoko and Matt were at the Love Me office together to talk to Sawara-san. "I called you both here so that I could go over this in one go. You both have a request from the same drama." "For me?!?" Kyoko screamed. Matt was unflustered by this reaction from her. It was her standard reaction to news. "Yes. It's a remake of a big hit drama from 20 years ago. Not only that, but it will be a big topic this year. It seems you were well recommended for this, Kyoko-chan." At this point, Matt was trying to pay attention and not laugh at the fact Kyoko was fainting in his arms. "So, will you do it?" "Sure," Matt said shrugging. Kyoko, standing, mumbled, "Uh, I uh, uh..." "Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you. The main actor in the drama is Ren." Both Matt and Kyoko stood there shocked. Matt recovered first and nodded. "Um," Kyoko mumbled, "Can you let me think about it?"

-

Ren, Yashiro, and Cinders were in Ren's car. Cinders was dozing in Yashiro's lap while Ren drove. "Hey, Ren? Anything wrong? You look aggravated. Were you told something by Kyoko-chan?" Ren collapsed in a defeated way. "Did she say something like, 'Oh, I hate you! I'll never speak to you again!', or something?" Ren glared sideways at Yashiro. "Why are you trying to put me together with her? It's not funny." "Well, I don't know what else would cause this kind of tension in you. Anything work related is impossible. You should be enthusiastic about the remaking of the old drama. It will be your first deep drama. So whatever is bothering you has to be related to Kyoko-chan." Ren sighed exasperated, "You seem to have seen something that made you think I had romantic feelings toward her." Yashiro snorted, "Seem? You wouldn't tell me what her relationship with Sho was at the risk of your own cell phone. If she's not on your mind..."

Ren pulled out from the stop light not speaking. He stared ahead like he was thinking before saying, "She's still a high school student." "So," Yahshiro said bluntly. "So? I'm 20! I'm pretty sure it's against the law to even think about touching her, much less liking her! She's just a child!" "Yet you've never treated her like a child. You said you respected her and she worked hard when she was your manager." "Yeah...but that's different." "Ren," Yashiro said, shaking his head like he was explaining to a child, "Girls mature faster than boys. You should treat her as a normal adult at that age even if she wasn't working as an entertainer. If you aren't careful, someone else may take her first."

* * *

**Ok. Thats enough for now. Hopefully it isn't too confusing.  
Do you think Ren comes off seeming like he doesn't really like Kyoko and Matt does? I didn't mean to.  
Though if enough people say it'd be cool to see Matt with Kyoko for a while, I could try it. Or I could try to put up a poll, which ever is better.**


	9. Chapter 8

**Yay! Back home from vacation. Hope no one missed me too much. ;) So, it's time for the next chapter of Cinders.  
Thanks for all the Reviews!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Skip Beat!

* * *

**

Ren and Cinders were leaving the President's office after a meeting about 'Tsukigomori'. Ren was deep in thought when he heard a scream. Cinders jumped with shock. Ren fell over. "Mrow?" "I'm not sure what that was, but it sounded like a scream. One I think I've heard before." "Mew." Ren headed in the direction of the scream with Cinders following behind him. _Just as I thought,_ Ren thought as he reached the balcony and saw Kyoko crying. "So Cruel!!!" Kyoko cried holding her copy of the 'Tsukigomori' script.

Ren chuckled to himself as he headed down the stairs. He could still hear her muffled wails. Seems she was upset about some role she had gotten. Served her right for just going for anything without any second thoughts. He was still chucking and shaking his head when he reached the bottom of the stairs. He was walking toward Kyoko when he heard Ogata-kun say, "Only you can surpass the Mio in 'Tsukigomori' of 20 years ago." _Huh?,_ Ren thought. "Mogami-san? Does that mean that you are also acting in 'Tsukigomori'?"

Just then they heard the sound of footsteps running toward them. Matt skidded to a stop just in front of them. "Kyoko-chan? Are you alright? I heard you screaming." Kyoko looked up at him confused as he walked over and knelt in front of her. "Kyoko-chan? Is everything alright?" "Yeah," Kyoko finally muttered, "Yeah, I'm alright." Matt sighed relaxing and looking around before freezing again as he spotted Ren, Yashiro and Ogata-kun. He stood up hastily and blushed deeply. "Uh...I-I...Um...I just wanted to make sure...uh...she was ok, you know. S-sorry." Yashiro turned and gave Ren a significant look, but Ren wasn't paying attention to him. Ren was watching Matt help Kyoko off the floor. Kyoko seemed to have come back to her senses and was petting Cinders in her arms while thanking and apologizing to Matt. Matt was looking at his feet and scuffing the floor with his shoes. He felt an unexplainable burning inside him at the sight of Matt and Kyoko together.

Matt, Kyoko with cinders in her lap, Ren, and Yashiro where sitting together on a couch in the lounge while Ogata-kun explained why he chose Kyoko for the part of Mio. "When I saw her in Sho's PV as the angel I knew she could surpass the Mio of 20 years ago," Ogata-kun said his eyes becoming bright and dreamy, "She had an aura that was more malice than evil, darker than darkness." Ren and Yashiro stared at Kyoko with a mix of confusion and surprise. Kyoko was staring at Ogata-kun with shock. Matt was snickering to himself because he had seen the PV and had heard Kyoko talk about it. "That's what you liked about it? That's so mean!" Kyoko stood up suddenly and Cinders fell to the floor with a surprised, "Mrow!" She turned and gave Kyoko a disgusted look before jumping into Matt's lap. "Let me reconsider acting in this," Kyoko sobbed. She stomped off with Ogata-kun trailing behind. "Kyoko-chan, please wait! Tsuruga-san may have already declined! What would I do without you!" Ren looked up surprised and said, "I'll do it." Kyoko and Ogata-kun turned around to face him with a questioning look on their faces. "I was given permission to perform in 'Tsukigomori'," Ren said with a smile.

"Really?" Ogata-kun asked walking back over to Ren. "So the President gave you permision?" Ren nodded. "Reluctantly, but yes." Ogata-kun smiled at Ren with relief and shook Ren's hand. Ren and Ogata-kun turned to look at Kyoko who was staring back at them dazedly. Matt got up with Cinders cradled in the crook of his arm as Ren offered his hand to Kyoko. She stepped forward as if sleepwalking. Matt watched her worriedly, but didn't stop her. As Kyoko took Ren's hand, Ogata-kun grabbed Matt's free hand and put it on top of Kyoko's and Ren's and said, "Let's work hard."

-

All the cast members stared at Ogata-kun who was sitting in a chair in the corner looking dejected. They were preparing for a press conference for 'Tsukigomori' and Ogata-kun looked like he was trying not to be sick. One of the cast members finally stepped forward and asked the question all of them had been dieing to ask, "Director, are you alright?" Ogata-kun nodded, "I'm ok. Just a bit nervous." The cast members muttered together in groups about the director's condition. This press conference was to announce the change in the name from 'Tsukigomori' to 'Dark Moon'. The director being in such a state might not be good for publicity. Kyoko walked over and knelt in front of Ogata-kun and tried to make him feel better. "Don't worry, Director Ogata. The press conference will soon be over." "Yeah," Ogata-kun agreed, but his condition only worsened. Kyoko watched worriedly as Ogata-kun became more and more nervous.

She sighed and went to talk with Ren. He seemed to be on edge as well. "Tsuruga-san, are you nervous?" Ren looked up in surprise to see Kyoko but he hadn't been paying attention, so he missed her question. "Huh?" "Well," Kyoko said nervously, "You seem to be spacing out quite often. Are you feeling nervous." Ren's mind didn't quite put two and two together yet so he just stared at her. "Me? Nervous?" "I'm sorry!" Kyoko said panicking and over reacting, then blushing and saying, "Sorry. I shouldn't have asked such a stupid question." Ren's mind finally caught up to what she had been saying and smiled, "It's not stupid. You're right to think I might be nervous. The original was really amazing."

Ren smiled looking at Kyoko with her confused expression. "Everyone here is probably nervous to a certain extent. Everyone except you seems to be. Have you decided on how you are going to play Mio?" Kyoko just stared at him in shock. She hadn't even thought of her role until Ren mentioned it. Now she started panicking. "From the looks of you're panicking, you haven't even thought of it. How are you going to surpass the Mio of 20 years ago like that?" I'm not an experienced actress," Kyoko retorted, "How am I supposed to consider scary stuff like that?" "But didn't you say you didn't like the character Mio? Why did you accept if you didn't have some idea of how to portray the character?" Ren watched Kyoko worriedly as she panicked. He hadn't meant to seem so harsh but it was foolish of her to just accept a job without any consideration towards how to portray the role.

-

The cast and Director Ogata had been sitting at the press conference for some time answering questions. Ogata-kun seemed to have calmed down significantly and was answering the questions directed to him without much hesitation. That was until the last question. "Is it true that the director for the production of 'Tsukigomori' 20 years ago was directed by your father?" Ogata-kun instantly became as white as a sheet and mumbled, "Uh...Um...This...Uh," before fainting. "Director!" Several members of the cast shouted as he fell to the floor.

Ogata-kun woke up with Kyoko hovering over him. "Kyoko-chan?" "Are you ok," Kyoko asked worriedly. "Yeah," Ogata-kun said as her rose from the bed, "I'm fine. Is this the hospital?" "Yeah," Kyoko said watching him rise. Ogata-kun laughed humorlessly. "I seem to have embarrassed myself again." Looking around he saw his friend and said, "...Asami..." She smiled at him and nodded before going to talk to the doctors. Ogata-kun and Kyoko sat in the waiting room while waiting on Asami to return. "I'm sorry to have bothered you, Kyoko-chan," Ogata-kun said quietly. "Oh, No it was no trouble. I didn't have any work this afternoon anyway," Kyoko replied quickly. "I must have surprised everyone with my actions this afternoon." "No, of course not," Kyoko lied. "No need to lie, Kyoko-chan, I know what people think of me," Ogata-kun said as he slipped back into his depression. "Sorry for making you wait," Asami said as she returned, "I paid for the bill." "Thanks," Ogata-kun said as he rose to meet her, "Sorry for bothering you." "It's no trouble. I'm used to it. Let's go get something to eat before we head back. Kyoko-chan, why don't you let me treat you to lunch as thanks for saying with Ogata-kun." "There's no need to do that," Kyoko stammered. "Don't worry. I'll make Ogata-kun pay me back later," Asami said. "Um...Well," Kyoko mumbled, still unsure. "If you don't come, I'll give your cell phone number to Sho." "No!," Kyoko shouted quickly, "I'd love to come!"

Kyoko ate quickly as Asami and Ogata-kun watched in bemusement. _I wonder why she is so reluctant to give her phone number to Sho, _Asami thought as she watched Kyoko. Kyoko stopped for a bit and gave Ogata-kun a glance. he seemed to still be upset about the day's events. She excused herself after she finished to call Ren. He had asked her to tell him when Ogata-kun woke up. "Director Ogata woke up. He seems to be fine, but..." Kyoko trailed off remembering what Asami had told her about Ogata-kun. In the time she spent thinking, the space for her message on Ren's Cell phone ran out. "Oh, I did it again!" She said good bye to Ogata-kun and Asami as she left the restaurant. "Thanks for treating me to dinner," she said, bowing. _What can I do to help?,_ Kyoko wondered as Ogata-kun and Asami left. As an idea came to her, she rummaged in her bag for her script. _I know! I can create a Mio that will surpass that of 20 years ago!

* * *

_

**Well, hopefully you liked it. I'll try to update more often now. Sorry for the long wait.**


	10. Cinders Adventure 2

**Ok. Time for another Cinders Adventure. Yay! ****As in the last one, I will not say beforehand what said characters are from or who they are. This is mostly for me to see who else is interested in what I am. It's also because I don't want to be bothered to put in any effort for a new chapter.**

**Thanks to all who have reviewed! Answer to question from my name is paper YAH: Yes, Matt likes Kyoko. Just not like _that_. You'll see. Answer to question from allanimehere: Yes, I like D.N. Angel. Other anime, manga, and other such characters will be added to Cinders, though only in the form of Cinders Adventures. Like this one.  
**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything! Seriously.

* * *

**Cinders had wandered away from Ren when he was filming for a commercial in Shibuya. She was trotting past the Phone-Booth of Love when she spotted the orange haired boy and the silver-blond boy. The two seemed to be fighting about something. As she approached them curiously she overheard the orange haired one shout, "This is all your fault!" She stopped in front of them and sat watching. The blond giggled girlishly and asked, "Now, dear. How is this my fault?" "It was your dumb idea to come this way," the orange haired boy shouted, "Some partner you are!" Again the blond giggled before looking down and spotting Cinders.

"It seems we have an audience, dear," the blond said bending down to pet Cinders. The orange haired boy rolled his eyes and shrugged. "It's just a cat. It probably can't even see me anyway." Cinders walked over to him and put her front paws on his leg. The orange haired boy stared at Cinders then looked questioningly at the blond. The other boy giggled again and picked Cinders up. "Haven't you ever heard that cats can see spirits. Really dear, you'd think you'd seen a ghost by the look on your face." The orange haired boy scoffed before turning his back on the blond. The blond giggled again, looking at Cinders. "So, little kitty, how did you come to be here?" Cinders stared up at him with her big golden-brown eyes. "Mew?"

The orange haired boy turned around again since his tantrum was being ignored in favor of a cat. He gave Cinders a glare. She turned to stare at him. _Well,_ he thought squirming under her stare, _she is kind of cute. _Cinders stood and jumped lightly onto the orange haired boys shoulder, causing him to laugh. "You're not that bad, are you," he asked Cinders. "Mrow." She purred into his ear as he pet her. The blond watched them, smiling to himself. It was nice to see his partner happy instead of anti-social or depressed. He just wished he didn't have to hurt the other boy more than he already had. His smile took on an evil element as a thought came to him.

"Dear, why don't we take our new friend to see our other special _cat_ friend?" The other boy looked at him confused until realization dawned on his face. "Oh," he said, nodding, "Yeah, we could take her over to the Wildcat Cafe." He started to walk back down the street while the blond boy followed behind snickering to himself. By the time they reached Cat Street, the blond had gotten control over his giggles and had even managed to put on a straight face. He almost lost his composure, though, when he entered the cafe. The orange haired boy had taken Cinders off his shoulder and was eagerly introducing her to the man behind the counter. He lost it completely and openly laughed as the man began to shout and sneeze at the same time.

"Neku! Achoo! Get that...Achoo!...that thing...Achoo!...out of my...Achoo!...face and out...Achoo!...of my cafe!" The orange haired boy looked crestfallen but did as he was told. His blond partner, on the other hand, was literally rolling on the floor laughing. The orange haired boy looked sadly down at Cinders in his arms. "I'm sorry," he said sadly. Cinders licked him gently, provoking him to giggle lightly. "Don't worry. He'll be ok. You should probably be heading home anyway. Maybe we can meet again some time." He set her down and she stared up at him and mewed softly before heading back to the set of Ren's commercial.

About half-way there she came across another blond boy. This one had a skateboard under his arm and a squirrel-like creature sitting on his shoulder. The squirrel creature jumped down and ran over to Cinders while the blond boy shouted and followed. Cinders shifted worriedly, but stood where she was. The squirrel creature approached her cautiously and touched noses with Cinders. They both stared at each other unblinkingly before sneezing lightly. They looked at each other again before both dissolved into their own form of giggles. The blond boy ran up to them and scooped up the squirrel creature and reprimanded it lightly for running off. Cinders slunk off unnoticed and made her way back to the set.

* * *

**Hope you liked it. Does anyone know who was entered? Was the shouting/sneezing fit funny? What will happen next in the main story? I don't really know...I only know how it will end.**


	11. Chapter 9

**Thanks to all who have reviewed! Since I don't want to be bothered, I'm skipping the whole thing where Kyoko finds Mio's character. Most everyone here knows what happens anyway.  
No, phxjoker88, Matt is not Kyoko's long lost brother. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Skip Beat!

* * *

**Filming had been proceeding quickly since Kyoko had gotten her new Mio. Ren had been just as surprised as everyone else at the malevolence that radiated from her when she was acting. Ren was filming a segment with Matt, who was acting as Katsuki's brother, Shuri. They had already filmed three scenes together, but what baffled Ren was that every time the scene ended, Matt only stuck around for a few minutes to thank him for a good job and then ran as Yashiro came to tell Ren what scene was next. Ren shook his head in confusion as, again, Matt ran off an almost literally hid behind Kyoko as Yashiro walked up. "You know, Yashiro, I think he's afraid of you. You shouldn't have teased him about you mistaking him for Kyoko again the other day." Yashiro shrugged. "I think he was behaving like this before. Maybe he's afraid you'll do something to him for spending so much time with Kyoko-chan." Ren rolled his eyes. "Mogami-san is more than capable of handling herself. Besides, she doesn't see him like that. He's just a fellow member of the Love Me section. Right?" Yashiro shrugged again. "Who knows what goes on in her head." Ren nodded and watched, jealously, as Kyoko playfully scolded Matt.

"Matt, you have to stop running away from him," Kyoko scolded. "I know," Matt replied sadly, "but I can't help it. I just panic and run for it." He sighed and picked up Cinders, who had wandered up to him. He pet her soothingly. "He'll get the wrong impression if you keep this up, though," Kyoko said, punching Matt lightly on the arm. "So what," Matt said, shrugging of the punch, "What ever he comes up with has to be better than the truth." Kyoko sighed and rolled her eyes. Matt was being stubborn again. "Maybe he might not take it bad," Kyoko suggested softly. Matt snorted. "Yeah and maybe you'll finally admit that you are madly in love with Ren. Then you two will go live together in fairy land with your love children." Kyoko blushed. "I am not in love with Ren Tsuruga. I can't believe that you would insult the fairies either. They are real, so there." Matt laughed. "Yeah, yeah. I know. So will you drop it?" "Oh," Kyoko said, growling, "All right, but just for now. You'll have to say something eventually." Matt rolled his eyes, but knew she was right.

"Ok, I need Kyoko and Matt on stage 2. Ren, you're on stage 4. Move it people!" Director Ogata yelled directions through the megaphone at his cast. He liked how his words caused a flurry of activity. It was almost like his own little ballet. He watched Matt and Kyoko position themselves on the set for the first confrontation between Mio and Shuri, while Ren was setting up for a scene between Katsuki and Mizuki. "Kyoko, you and Matt can start now. Scene 23." Kyoko and Matt nodded and began the scene.

"Do you really believe that I care about your brother's feelings for Mizuki," Mio asked, turning to face Shuri. "But it's your sister he's cheating on! Don't you care about the pain she will feel when she finds out?" Mio laughed at his question. "I want her to feel pain, Shuri. Trust me," she said, her smile becoming more malevolent, "Nothing could make me happier than her feeling the pain she deserves." "Deserves," Shuri asked, backing away in fear. "Yes. She deserves pain. Any pain that can be inflicted on her. She deserves it for what she did. What she did to me." "You mean that scar," Shuri said as his back hit the wall, "It was an accident! She didn't mean to hurt you!" Mio laughed again and stepped forward, trapping Shuri against the wall. "Do you really believe that? That my sister is innocent of the blame I put on her?" "Yes, I do," Shuri said, trying to sound brave. Mio sneered at him. "Then you are a fool." She slapped him across the face and stalked from the room. "Ok," Director Ogata called out, "That was good."

Kyoko ran back onto the set. "I'm sorry Matt. Did it hurt?" Matt shook his head. "Not that much. It was in the script, so I was ready for it." Kyoko hovered around him as he walked back to the makeup and costume department. "Ren, It's time for you and Itsumi to start. Is she back from makeup?" "I'm here," Itsumi said as she walked onto the set. "Good, let's start. Action!"

Mizuki walked into the room from the kitchen. "Sorry for bothering you. I brought tea, sensei." Katsuki smiled at her. Mizuki fidgeted uncomfortably. "Uncle and Misao-san will be here later," she rambled, "Please make yourself comfortable, as if it were your own home." Her eyes met his, and she quickly dropped her gaze and fiddled with the china. As she worked, she noticed her mistake with the tea flavor. "Sensei, you prefer Earl Gray, don't you?" "Yes," Katsuki replied, confused. "I'm so sorry. I can't believe I made such a stupid mistake. I'll go remake it again," she said as she replaced the cups on the tray. "No, it's alright," Katsuki protested. "No, you hardly ever visit. You should be made as comfortable as possible when here." As she was speaking, one of the cups fell from the table. "Oh, no! It broke!" "Are you ok," Katsuki asked. "Yeah, I'm ok. Ouch," she said as she cut herself on a piece of glass. "Did you cut yourself," Katsuki asked worriedly, "Let me see." He took her hand, and that's when Ren froze uncertainly. "Cut," Director Ogata called out, "Ren, can we do that scene again?"

* * *

**Hope you liked it. Had to do it in html, stupid editor. For everyone who doesn't know, the last chapter featured 'The World Ends With You'. The orange-haired kid was Neku, the first blond was Joshua, the coffee shop owner was Mr. H, the second blond was Beat, and the squirrel type creature was Noise Rhyme. I'm still depressed no one got it. Hopefully everyone will get the next one when it comes out.**

If you still don't get Matt, you're denser than Ren. If that's a word. Though I still haven't decided if Kyoko noticed on her own or if he told her...Who cares? My poor Cinders was ignored almost all chapter!


	12. Chapter 10

**Thanks to all who have reviewed. Sorry for being gone for so long. I moved from NV to WV and it took for ever to internet. Don't be too upset. I cut most of Ren's dialog from chapter 64 because he really talks a lot.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Skip Beat!**

* * *

Cinders laid upside down on the floor asleep while Ren sat with his drink. He could hear the phone ringing and knew it was Yashiro calling, but he didn't want to face his manager yet. The other day, he totally lost it. He couldn't portray his character and he didn't know what to do to fix this. The phone started ringing again as Yashiro tried in vain to reach Ren. Cinders rolled over grumbling and stalked out of the room. Ren barely even noticed her leave, he was so caught up in his thoughts. Cinders jumped onto the table with the phone and knocked the phone off it's stand. "Hello? Ren? Are you there," Yashiro asked as the phone turned on. "Mrow," Cinders yowled at it. "Cinders? What are you doing with the phone," Yashiro asked confused. "Meow," she purred at it and sat on the phone. "Hello? Hello? Can anyone hear me," Yashiro's muffled voice asked. Cinders purred contentedly and went to sleep.

Ren sat outside the studio thinking darkly while Cinders slept on the bench beside him. Suddenly, he heard a squeaking sound that he recognized. Cinders woke up as he looked around to find the chicken person who had helped him last time. "Yo," the chicken person said, "Long time no see. Just like always, a face full of worries." "It's you," Ren asked, slightly dazed. "So, did you come across something else in the script you don't understand," the chicken person asked. Ren looked away, thinking of his problems. "You better tell me then," the chicken person said, "There's no reason to conceal it from me anyway."

Ren and the chicken person sat together outside the studio while Cinders inspected the chicken suit. Ren thought over how to best phrase his question. "Is there anyone that you like," he mumbled. "Sorry, what did you say," the chicken person asked. Ren thought over what he wanted to ask again as the chicken person shook him to get an answer. "Have you ever been in love," he asked. The chicken person sighed and looked away. Ren watched confused. Didn't the chicken person just ask him to talk about his problems?

"It's a feeling that can't really be described with words," the chicken person explained, "The feeling of love, that is." Ren felt his depression deepen. If it can't be described, how was he supposed to portray it? "It must be odd for someone of my age to have never experienced love," Ren said with a sigh. "Not really your age," the chicken person said, "It's more your looks that make it less believable." Ren stared at the chicken person. Was it really that unbelievable that he had never experienced love? "You really meant it, didn't you," the chicken person asked. Ren blushed. Evidently it was that unbelievable.

"You don't have to repeat it," Ren said still blushing. The chicken person stood in shock. Cinders swatted at the suit's tail feathers as they moved. "Actually," Ren said after thinking it over, "I had believed that what I had felt was love, but someone told me that I had never truly experienced love. He said that it would be impossible for me to do this drama because of that. I didn't believe him. I thought that my acting ability would be enough, but now I've ended up in that situation. I don't know how to portray a man who loves what he is forbidden. In the end, I had to take a break from the set."

Ren's thoughts drifted to one of his earliest acting jobs and the director who had cut him out of the production. "Squawk!" Ren looked up to see the chicken person banging their head against the ground while Cinders danced around behind them trying to catch the tail feathers. "What," Ren asked tentatively, "are you doing?" The chicken looked up at him in surprise while Cinders watched him with one of the feathers in her mouth. "Uh, nothing really. I just thought that I had seen a roach. A really annoying roach," the chicken person said guiltily. Ren glared at them. "I'm sitting here pouring my hear out and you go off to look at bugs," he growled, "It was your dumb idea to begin with. You're really irresponsible." He grabbed the hat on the suit's head piece and pulled.

"Pong!" The hat popped off the head piece, buttons flying everywhere. Cinders raced after one of them and batted it around. Ren laughed at the way the suit looked now. He was still giggling as he helped gather the buttons, managing to wrestle Cinders' away from her. He was barely stifling his giggles as he reattached the hat to the head piece. He laughed again at the way the chicken person sulked about the condition the suit was in. "Don't worry," he said, "No one will notice." "Of course it will be noticed," the chicken person said, "You're being irresponsible about this." "You're irresponsible too," he said haughtily before submitting to giggles again.

He carried Cinders as he said goodbye to the chicken person. "Thank you," he said, "It really helped me to talk to you." "You're welcome," the chicken person said, "You'll definitely be able to capture your character's feelings." "What makes you say that," Ren asked doubtful. He started to walk and the chicken person followed. "Well, lets just forget about the drama love story," the chicken person said, "What I had believed to be love was torn down." "What is love anyway," Ren asked glumly. "There will be little things that make you happy," the chicken person explained, "It's just like that."

"Happiness," Ren asked, "In what way?" The chicken person collapsed on the floor in shock. "Tsuruga-san," the chicken person asked weakly, "Let me ask again. Has there been anyone who made you think 'she's pretty' or 'she's cute' just because you are around her?" Ren thought for a moment. Then he realized, Kyoko made him feel like that. "If I have felt like that," Ren asked tentatively, "Then what does that mean?" "Tsuruga-san," the chicken person said cheerfully, "That is a sign that you're in love."

* * *

**Ok, I give up. This is too long already. I'll try to get the next chapter up soon.**


	13. Chapter 11

**Thanks to all who have reviewed. For the last time, Matt does not like Kyoko! Now you will see why. Yay! This is my half-way mark, sort of. 3/4 mark is the scene at the hotel with Rieno.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Skip Beat!

* * *

**Ren was driving home with Cinders sitting asleep in the passenger's seat. His thoughts roamed over the things that Yashiro had said and he suddenly spun the car. He sighed and leaned against the steering wheel. He looked over to Cinders who was standing with all her fur on end and her claws buried deep into the car seat. "Sorry," Ren muttered sheepishly. Cinders only looked at him with reproach and jumped over the seat to the back of the car. Ren sighed again and leaned back in his seat. What was he going to do? Suddenly, he heard someone knocking on his car window. Slowly he turned to look at them, only to find Kyoko waving at him. "Good evening," she said cheerily, "I thought this was your car." Just seeing her, he felt all his worries fall away. "What are you doing here," he asked.

Kyoko was serving the dinner she had made for Ren, and she could tell something was wrong. Ren was using his most sparkly fake smile on her. Honestly, it freaked her out. Cinders didn't seem to mind since she was happily eating. She sighed with relief as a mildly interesting program seemed to begin. _"Tonight we have a special couple with us. one could say that it is forbidden love, _the announcer lady said, _"of a student and a teacher. A couple whose ages are very different." _The screen showed the ages of the young lady and the man. Kyoko and Ren both stared at the tv with interest. _"These two started dating when Ms. Zaikou was still in high school. After several years, their love for one another was finally accepted,"_ the announcer lady continued. Kyoko snuck a peek at Ren to see his reaction. He seemed to be only passively interested. "What does Tsuruga-san think of something like that," Kyoko asked timidly. "What I think," Ren said, thinking, "That's good for them. Good luck." Kyoko's annoiance started to grow. She had just talked to him as Bo about his relationship with a younger girl and he had rejected the idea entirely.

_"Because of the difference between our ages," _the man said, _"we first tried to use reason to end the relationship. But once she graduated, it was like all the chains that were holding us back were broken."_ Ren thought about how he used 'chains' to try to hold back his own feelings. He stared at Kyoko, pondering his feelings, until she noticed and broke up his thoughts. He sighed and Kyoko watched him worriedly. _"Next up," _the announcer lady said, _"we have Matt Randal, new to the Japanese entertainment field." _Kyoko and Ren looked back at the tv, startled._ "He recently was transfered he from America. Isn't that right, Matt,"_ she asked. _"That's right," _Matt responded, grinning. Ren glared at the tv. Why did this have to come on while he was with Kyoko? _"There is a rumor going around," _the announcer lady said coyly, _"that the reason that you were moved here to LME is that there was a scandal involving your sexual orientation. Is that true, Matt?" "Yes, that's right,"_ he answered evenly, _"I'm gay." _

Ren's chin dropped as fangirls in the audience squeeled. Kyoko looked at him confused. "Did you know," he asked weakly. "Of couse I knew," she responded, "I thought that you did too." "Me?" She nodded. "Matt and I that you knew and that was why you didn't really like him. It wasn't that hard to tell. Especially the way he acts around Yashiro-san," she explained. "What does Yashiro have to do with it," he asked. "Didn't you notice," she asked, "Matt likes Yashiro-san. That's why he always runs away. Because he's embarased." "B-But, I thought...," Ren trailed off blushing. "What did you think," Kyoko asked. "N-Never mind," Ren stuttered as he gathered up the dishes. He didn't speak again as they washed and dried the dishes. Silently, he drove Kyoko home.

* * *

**Ha! I bet you didn't expect that! Muahahaha! So, does the rating need to go up or is it ok? I don't think gay guys need to have a higher rating. Hopefully you could understand what was happening. Sometimes I'm just hard to understand. Any guesses on what's going to happen next?  
**


	14. Chapter 12

**Thanks to all who have reviewed. Sorry I haven't posted lately. I'm a lazy procrastinator.  
Disclaimer: As usual, I don't own Skip Beat. I also don't own the CDs. Trocadero is from Rooster Teeth (or it's on their site) and One X is from Three Days Grace.  


* * *

**Ren sighed as he opened the door to leave his apartment and saw an odd package sitting outside the door. He picked it up and looked to see who it was from, but all it said was that it was for him. Finding this odd, he took the package back into his apartment and carefully unwrapped it on the table. It contained a CD player with batteries and two different CDs. He picked up the first one and read the title "Trocadero: Roses are Red, Violets are Blue". He picked up the next one and read "One X". He was really curious as to what these CDs were about and who sent them, but he didn't have much time to worry because he was in a hurry. So he just took "One X" and the CD player with him.

Ren sat in the waiting room listening to the One X CD. He was ignoring Yashiro as he thought about his actions the previous night. Yashiro tapped on his shoulder, pointing at the door.

"Your guest is here," he said.

Ren went to the door and saw the chicken person. Only, he was more of a duck than a chicken. They sat down together in the hall near the waiting room.

"I know that you think I wouldn't support the relationship of the couple with a nineteen year age difference," Ren said, gazing into space, "but I do. It's weird, that I would find that ok, but not the difference between me and the person I like."

"Maybe it's because she's still in high school," the chicken suggested hopefully.

"Yeah, that's right. At least right now," Ren said with a sigh, "but even if she weren't in high school, I would find another excuse to distance myself from her."

"Why," the chicken asked, confused.

"I said before," Ren explained, "'I can't have someone important to me at this time.'"

"When you said 'at this time' you mean in the acting world," the chicken asked.

Ren sighed and smiled sadly. "No matter where, it's the same."

He left the chicken person sitting there, confused and astounded, and went to find Yashiro. As he entered the waiting room his cell phone rang.

"Hello," he answered, waiting to see who was calling.

"Um, Ren, it's Ogata," the director said nervously, "The President stopped by and, uh, said that he wanted you to show him Katsuki tomorrow. He said that-that if he wasn't impressed, then he would pull you out."

"I understand," Ren said, calmly, hanging up on Ogata as he stammered out his relief.

-

Ren went back to sitting outside the waiting room with his new CD player. He looked up at Yashiro as he walked up to him.

"I'm sorry, Ren," Yashiro said, looking down sadly.

"For what," Ren asked, confused.

"If I could drive, then you could practice in the car," Yashiro said, sadly.

"Don't worry about it," Ren said, soothingly.

Ren sighed, thinking about how complicated his feelings were. 'If only I could find a way to act the scene out superior to the previous Katsuki,' Ren thought, 'A way that only I can act it out.' His thoughts returned to what he had said earlier to the chicken person. Maybe that was the answer. That his own feelings were similar to Katsuki's.

He looked up as Yashiro pointed. There was Kyoko, sitting there, apparently waiting for them. He blushed, remembering her expression when he dropped her off the previous night.

"Ren," Yashiro screamed, startling him. "Kyoko said that she was skipping classes," Yashiro said, suggestively, "because she wanted to give you lunch."

"I'm sorry, if it seems odd," Kyoko said, nervously, "But I wanted to support Tsuruga-san and give him strength. It's kid of silly, but hopefully it will help cheer you up."

She watched him nervously as he stared at her, slightly surprised. Then he smiled, almost glowing with happiness.

"I'm very happy," he said, still smiling.

"I see," Kyoko said, shaking, "Please accept this lunch."

"Mogami-san," Ren said, questioningly, "In addition to your lunch, I was wondering if you could help me by allowing me to borrow your time and your body for tonight."

* * *

**Again, sorry for taking so long. I'm easily side tracked. If you were wondering, I'm trying a different format to try to make the story and dialog easier to understand.**


	15. Chapter 13

**Thanks to everyone who has reviewed. I really should have been writing this all week since school was closed for snow.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Skip Beat!

* * *

**Kyoko glared at Ren as he opened the door to his apartment.

"Could you not phrase your request in such a strange way," she said, growling, "If you wanted acting practice, you could have just asked!"

"Did you think I meant something else," Ren asked, pretending to be innocent.

"No, but Yashiro-san did," Kyoko replied, her glare unwavering.

Ren and Kyoko walked into the apartment and saw Cinders siting on the desk next to Ren's computer. She seemed to be looking at something on the screen, but she turned around to look at Ren and Kyoko.

"Hey, Cinders," Kyoko cooed at the cat, walking over and picking her up. Cinders purred as Kyoko pet her, scratching her under the chin. Kyoko sat down with Cinders in her lap and dug her script out of her bag.

"I'll be acting the part of Mizuki, right," Kyoko asked Ren as Cinders batted at the pages as she turned to the right scene.

"We won't be using the script," Ren said, taking Kyoko's script away from her as Cinders' claws caught in the back page. There was a ripping noise and Ren and Kyoko looked to the four long tears on the page.

"Let's just do it," Ren said with a sigh, "Aside from the character names and personalities, we'll just act naturally."

Kyoko looked at him suspiciously, wondering what he was planning

"Don't tell me you can't act as Mizuki without a script," Ren teased.

"Of course I can," Kyoko huffed, "I'm just worried about you."

"It's fine," Ren said, his face serious, "My Katsuki is enough."

-

Kyoko stood outside Ren's apartment, wondering what Ren was planning on doing. She waited patiently after ringing the doorbell, wondering what he was doing. Cinders was meowing on the inside of the apartment. Ren opened the door and looked at her. He sighed and began to shut the door again, shaking his head.

"Wait, why do I have to redo it," Kyoko asked, grabbing the side of the door, "I didn't do anything yet!"

"Exactly," Ren replied, "Right now, you still see a hallway outside an apartment."

"Oh," Kyoko said, thinking about the setting that would describe Katsuki's home.

"Try again when you have a better idea of where you're supposed to be," Ren said as he shut the door.

Ren leaned against the wall on the inside of his apartment, waiting for Kyoko to try again. She began ringing the doorbell repeatedly as she waited. Ren smiled for a bit, imagining what she might be thinking about, before steeling himself to answer her.

Ren opened the door and looked around when he saw that Kyoko wasn't standing in front of the door. She was sitting next to the door on the floor. She stood up, looking relieved. She froze, as her character considered what her sensei's reaction would be.

"Don't startle me," Ren said, his voice raspy, "What are you doing here?"

"Because sensei hasn't come to school lately, I thought that I should come check on you," Kyoko said, her voice wobbly.

"Thank you," Ren said, a smile on his face, "Sorry to trouble you."

"Oh," Kyoko said, nervously, "It's no trouble. Everyone else was worried too."

"Then I suppose that it's about time that I return to school," Ren said, still smiling, "You can go home now."

Ren began to shut the door, but Kyoko got her foot through before it was completely shut.

"Sensei, aren't you hungry? You've been sitting in bed sick all day," Kyoko said as she began to pass out from the pain. Ren ran out as she fell over in a faint. When Ren allowed her back into the apartment, she skipped along happily behind him. Ren made her sit on the couch in the living room as he got the first aid kit to tend to her ankle. Cinders jumped onto the couch and licked the spot on Kyoko's ankle where she was hurt, glaring at Ren. Ren looked at Cinders, bemused, and shrugged.

When he returned, Kyoko was looking around the room as if she had never seen it before while Cinders purred, rubbing against her side.

"What are you thinking about," Ren asked, as he knelt to apply the medicine to Kyoko's ankle.

"I was thinking that this room reflects your personality," Kyoko replied, waving her arm to emphasize her point, "Are all the rooms in your house the same? Can I look around?"

"When I finish with your ankle, you need to leave," Ren said, determined that she shouldn't spend much time at his home. "Next time, why don't you bring over the rest of the class?"

Kyoko moved her ankle so that Ren couldn't reach it from his position on the floor. They gave each other glares while Cinders washed her ears on the couch next to Kyoko.

"If you won't let me cook you something, then I won't let you treat my wound," Kyoko said determinedly.

"Well in that case," Ren said resignedly. He got up and began to push Kyoko out the door, saying, "Since you don't want my help, please return home."

"Ah! No," Kyoko exclaimed, "It was a joke Sensei! It hurts! Please!"

Ren stopped just short of the door and asked, "Then when I'm done, will you go home?"

Kyoko glared at him, but didn't reply.

"So," Ren asked, waiting for her response.

Kyoko looked at the floor while she replied, "I know that Sensei thinks it's bad for me to be here as a single female student, but what if I wasn't here as a student?"

She looked up at him before continuing, "What if I came here as a family member? Because if you marry Misao-san then you will be a member of my family, right? So, you can just think of it as if I were sent to check on you by Misao-san."

Kyoko looked up at Ren hopefully. Ren stared at her, surprised, both at what she said and his reaction to her words. Each reminder of his relationship to Misao-san was like a stab in the heart.

"Sensei? Are you alright," Kyoko asked, confused.

"Yes. It's just that you said her name and it touched my heart," Ren lied, looking away from Kyoko as she glared at him for his fake act.

"You're the only one other than her who has been in my apartment," Ren continued, moving to go back to the living room, but stumbling against the wall instead.

"Sensei," Kyoko shouted, worried.

"I'm fine," Ren replied, standing up, "I just feel a little dizzy is all."

"Was telling me that you were fine a lie," Kyoko asked, shouting at him as he sat on the floor, "If you want me to go home, then you have to prove to me that you're better."

"You mean evidence," Ren asked, slightly confused about how you prove you aren't sick.

"Yes," Kyoko said determinedly, "You will have to eat all the food I fix for you." She gently took his hand to help him stand, "You can go rest while I fix you something."

Kyoko walked with Ren and Cinders to his room after she let him bandage her ankle. She looked at the bed while Ren told her that he would wait there like he said. As Ren watched, Kyoko's face changed to one of a shocked realization.

"What's wrong Hongo-san," Ren asked, worried.

She turned to him, tears in her eyes as she replied, "Sensei, I'm sorry. I don't know how to make Congee."

Kyoko left Ren and Cinders as she went to the kitchen. Ren sat down with a sigh. Cinders jumped onto the bed and purred next to him, rubbing against his elbow. He sat with his head resting on his clasped hands until he heard a clattering noise coming from the kitchen. He and Cinders jumped up and ran to the kitchen as a scream and a loud clatter came from the kitchen.

* * *

**So, it's not like it's a cliffhanger. We all know what's going to happen next. We just don't know what Cinders will contribute to it. This chapter ended up rather long.  
**


	16. Chapter 14

**Ack! I've been off for too long! Sorry! School's crazy near the end of the year. I am still a procrastinator, though.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything! If I did, then I wouldn't need a hundred scholarships to go to college.

* * *

**

Kyoko moaned as she regained consciousness. Last thing she remembered was falling while trying to reach the rice cooker. She blinked and looked around her. She was lying on the floor and the objects she had been using to climb up to the rice cooker, but for some reason she couldn't get up.

Looking down at her constrained body, she blushed as she saw that Ren had fallen on top of her. He must have used himself to cushion her fall.

"Ts...oh, um...Sensei? Are you alright," Kyoko asked tentatively. Ren moaned and began to stir from unconsciousness. He slowly pushed himself up with his arms on either side of Kyoko's head and looked at her dazedly.

"Sensei?"

His eyes slowly focused on her face. Ren wasn't really aware of it, but his face took on the look of one who was watching a loved one. Slowly, as if in a dream, he reached out and caressed her face.

"Have you ever been kissed before," Ren asked, his voice deep and dark. Kyoko shook her head vigorously.

"Would you like me to," he asked leaning closer to her.

"Se-sensei! Please snap out of it," Kyoko shouted in alarm, covering his mouth with her hand. Ren blinked at her and she slowly retracted her hand. His arms dipped a bit and Kyoko was afraid he was going to try to kiss her again, but he turned to try and see something behind him.

Cinders peeked over his shoulder and tapped her cold, wet nose against his and stared down at Kyoko.

"Mew," she purred at Kyoko.

"Maybe you should kiss Cinders instead," Kyoko suggested giggling.

"Maybe I will," Ren replied turning to look at Cinders over his shoulder.

"Mrup," she protested and jumped down off Ren's back and walked over to Cinders. She licked Kyoko's face while the girl laughed.

Ren got up and helped Kyoko to her feet. She went to make the food she had promised to fix for Ren. Ren sat down and watched her work. He had never felt like this before. She had totally confused him, so much so that he had forgotten who he was supposed to be and had reverted to 'Kyon'.

"Mogami-san," he said softly.

"Ah!," she screeched as she was awakened from her musings. "Oh, Sen-oh...Tsuruga-san," she said in surprise.

"Yeah," Ren said with a smile, "I've got it." Kyoko smiled back and Cinders purred loudly from the floor.

* * *

**It's not exactly the same as the chapter, but that's the gist of it. Will probably be diverting more and totally leaving the main story after the manga chapter 99. Hopefully will update more soon.**


	17. Chapter 15

**Hi, I'm back again. Might as well put this out while I'm here. I wish I could just psychicly broadcast the story when it comes to me rather than have to write it. So tedious.**

**Thanks to Awww, Nexa, and Flamingbunnies for reviewing.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything! Cinders does all the work! Right Cinders?

* * *

**

The atmosphere was tense as Kyoko walked into the set. She saw Ren and the President having some kind of stare off. Cautiously, she walked up to two of the minor actors.

"What's going on," she asked, "and why is the President here?" The two actors stared at her and started mumbling and arguing between themselves before answering her question.

"Uh...Kyoko-chan," one of the two actors said, "Today the President is going to watch Ren's performance to see if he is suitable to continue in the role of Katsuki."

The two actors edged away from Kyoko as a dark cloud of depression surrounded her. She wandered over to one of the beach props and sat down; sulking. Cinders padded over and sat next to her, licking her arm occasionally. After a few minutes, Ren walked up and looked at Kyoko with an odd expression.

"What are you doing here all alone?" he asked cautiously.

"Nothing," Kyoko replied coldly, "Just enjoying my solitude." She turned to face away from him and Cinders looked at him reproachfully. He scratched the back of his head as Cinders turned to face away from him as well.

"Um, are you upset about something?" Ren asked confused.

"No, of course not," Kyoko replied with what was probably sarcasm, "Why should I be upset? After all, I'm used to being out of the loop."

"Ah," Ren said comprehending, "Are you referring to what is happening today?" Kyoko turned and glared at him.

"You knew I was the only one who didn't know anything?" she asked angrily.

"I guessed as much," Ren replied with a sigh. Kyoko turned back to look at the wall and Cinders patted her arm with a paw. Kyoko picked her up and squeezed her, making her squeek.

"It wasn't my intention to exclude you," he said as he watched his poor cat be suffacated.

"I know," Kyoko said, releasing her hold on Cinders so the cat could breathe, "But I'm sad that I was the last to be there to support you."

They sat in silence while Cinders tried to regain her breath. She finally jumped from Kyoko's arms and stalked off. She sat down under the table on the set and washed her paw.

Cinders moved off the set when Ren and Itsumi got into position for the improve performance. She sat down next to Kyoko and watched the two actors work.

Mizuki came out with the tea and talked with Katsuki. Everyone waited in anticipation for the point at which Ren said that he would divert from the script. When Itsumi pretended to cut her finger, everyone held their breath. All eyes were watching Ren expectantly.

"Let me disinfect it for you," Ren said with a dark look in his eyes. He brought Itsumi's finger up to his lips before she screamed and jerked her hand back. Ren laughed as she stood there blushing, unsure as to what action to take.

"Did you really think I was going to lick you?" Ren asked with a smirk, "How could I do something like that? I'm your teacher."

"Even if you weren't my student, I wouldn't do that to you," he said coldly, "Why would I do anything to a girl I don't even like?"

Itsumi turned from Ren shaking and Ren stood looking at her with a hurt expression. He turned away from her with his hand clenched by his side.

Kyoko started as Cinders ran onto the set and put her front paws on Ren's leg. Ren looked down in surprise at his cat. She had never come onto the set before. He knelt and pet her and turned to Itsumi with a shy smile.

"Sorry," he said, "It looks like I went a bit too far with that joke. I even upset the cat!"

Everyone around the set relaxed and murmured among themselves.

"Why don't you go get the first aid kit so we can treat your finger?" Ren asked. Itsumi looked at him for a few moments before tuning and walking to the piano. Hesitatingly, she played a sad song. After a few moments, she looked up to see Ren's reaction. She immediately regretted it and blushed deeply; hiding behind the piano.

"Mizuki," Ren said questioningly.

"Y-yes," Itsumi answered quickly, not thinking about it.

"Why don't you play something for me?" he asked, "You can play anything you like."

Itsumi looked at him like he had suddenly proposed to go running though traffic with Cinders tied to his head. He knew that she only knew one other song, and that song was 'Cat Steps'. She continued to stare at him as he stood and walked towards her.

"Why don't we play together?" he asked. Now everyone on the set was staring at him like he had just told them he could jump the Grand Canyon with a blind fold. Could he play Katsuki's famous piece with so little practice?

He positioned his hands over the keys and took a deep breath. Then he deliberately began to play what was unmistakeably 'Cat Steps'. Terribly. Now everyone was rather certain that he had lost his mind. Why would Katsuki play such a song?

Itsumi blinked as he turned to look at her with a childish smile. She nodded and began to play with him while Cinders jumped up onto the lid. Itsumi played 'Cat Steps' better than Ren which made the notes clash horribly. They continued for a few moments until Ren's playing corrected to sound like Itsumi's.

"I could let you use the Music Room's piano during lunch, if you like," Ren said. "But first," he said with a wicked grin, "you need to catch me."

Immediately, his playing sped up. Itsumi blinked and laughed, increasing her speed as well. Ren waited until she had almost caught up before speeding up even more. After a few moments of them playing, Cinders jumped onto the keys and played real cat steps all the way across the keys. When she reached the other side she jumped off and returned to the couch while Ren and Itsumi laughed.

"Why did you play 'Cat Steps'?" Itsumi asked when she had caught her breath.

"Because it fits my image of you," Ren replied with a smirk. Itsumi swung her fists at him playfully and he protested laughingly. Kyoko smiled as they played and looked over to see Cinders close her eyes and step deliberately onto the broken shards of the cup.

"Mrow," she cried at the pain and Ren turned to look at her.

"Are you alright," he asked picking her up and looking at her cut paw.

"Mrur," Cinders replied as he looked the injury over for porcelain shards left in the wound.

"Would you like me to disinfect it for you?" he asked jokingly and was hit in the back of the head by Itsumi.

"Let me clean this up and get you your favorite Earl Gray tea," she said picking up the pieces and the tray and walking out through the door.

Ren sighed and asked himself what he was thinking acting like that. He hung his head dejectedly while Cinders patted his arm with her paw. With a sigh, he leaned back and smiled, petting her head absently.

"Ok," Director Ogata said, "That's great. End scene."

* * *

**I'm worried because half way through writing the chapter Skip Beat disappeared from Mangafox. Maybe there was something wrong with it, but I still want tho know why it's gone.**


	18. Chapter 16

**Thanks to MishaAngel23, setogirl2, flamingbunnies, Kyokoren, and my name is paper YAH for their reviews. I'm going to scrap the rest of the plot that follows the manga since Onemanga is supposed to be shutting down. It didn't do anything anyway other than raise the question of 'Why? Just, why?'**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Skip Beat or the characters.**

Kyoko carried Cinders out to the parking lot and stopped when she saw Lory's limo.

'He must be in there,' she thought, referring to Ren. She looked in the window inconspicuously and saw Ren's sad face. She felt like her heart was breaking just from the sight.

Kyoko paced around outside the limo thinking of what she could do to help Ren. Cinders looked up at her and meowed.

"You're right Cinders," Kyoko said stopping. She set the cat down and rushed back to her dressing room.

When Ren stepped out of the limo, the only one there was Cinders.

"Where did she go?" he asked aloud. Cinders mewed, looking in the direction of the studio. Kyoko was walking back towards them. When Ren spotted her, she ran the last few feet.

"Tsuruga-san," she said commandingly, "Hold out your hands."

He did so and Kyoko put the blue stone she had named 'Corn' into his hands. Ren looked up at her in surprise and curiosity.

"Hold it up to the light like this," she commanded while demonstrating. Ren did so and watched the colors change, just like they had so many years ago.

"That's magic," Kyoko said excitedly, "It absorbs your sadness and bad feelings."

Ren watched her as she wrapped herself into her magical world. He started convulsing in silent laughter at how much she was still that little girl he had met all those years ago.

"Don't laugh at me," Kyoko said hotly.

"I would never do such a thing," Ren said still shaking.

"I'll have you know," Kyoko said still hurt, "That the person who gave me Corn was the Prince of Fairies."

Ren couldn't help it anymore. He let out his laughter. He had missed her innocent belief in him and acceptance of all things fantasy.

"It's true," Kyoko said defiantly, stomping one foot.

"I'm not laughing at you," Ren said between gasps.

"Yes, you are," Kyoko retorted, crossing her arms.

"Really, I'm not," he said, patting her shoulder. Kyoko pouted.

"I saw him fly," she said, "He really flew."

"Really?" Ren asked amused.

"Not for very long," Kyoko admitted, "But he couldn't help it. He said his father's hand stretched out and cut his wings when he flew too high."

She sighed and looked down gloomily, then back up at Ren with optimism.

"But I know that he has grown up to be the great King that he was born to be," she said smiling, "Corn could do it, even if everyone in the world was against him."

Ren smiled at her. He was glad that she believed in him so much. It comforted him to know that she believed that he would succeed with anything.

"Thank you," he said smiling at her. Ren brought her treasured stone to his lips. The piece of himself that she carried with her, always. He offered the stone back to her and noticed her vacant expression.

"Mogami-chan?" he asked worriedly, "Are you alright?"

She blinked and reached out to accept her treasure. Cinders meowed from down by her feet. Kyoko smiled and bent to pick her up.

"Mogami-chan, have you eaten yet?" Ren asked.

"No," Kyoko said, lifting Cinders into her arms.

"Why don't we go eat together?" Ren suggested. Kyoko nodded and left with him to go to the studio cafeteria.

**Well, I'm glad everyone liked my rambling nonsense. The End! ~3**

**Ok, I lied. It's not the end of Cinders yet. Just the manga section. I'm glad that everyone got to see one of the ways that I see the world. Hope you like the next chapters, since they are independent of the manga. **

**If you ask nice, you might get an extra chapter with what I was planning with Chapter 90-ish. When Ren and Kyoko are facing off against Reino.**


	19. The Chapter That Will Never Exist

**Thank you guys for trying to keep with it, I know I'm lazy and slow. Special thanks to WitchMagicCat for giving me a good kick in the butt. Also thanks to all reviewers. Your opinions and contribution are appreciated.**

**This isn't exactly a new chapter of the story. (I'm still working on where this is going now.) But I figured you needed some confirmation that I was still alive and active.**

**So, this is one of the major points that I was planned for the original plot. This occurs when they are at the hotel with 'The Beagles'. (Lol, I love that nickname.)**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Skip Beat! Or any of it's characters.

* * *

**

Cinders was riding the elevator in the hotel while she waited for Ren and Kyoko to return. She watched the doors as they opened and closed on various floors, letting people on and off.

Reino walked to the elevator, his cell phone pressed to his ear. "Until it's time for me to do something, I'll rest as much as possible," he said to his fellow band member. **(AN:Who's name I can't remember.)**

"Oh?" the man on the other end of the phone replied, "You sound rather tense. Did something happen?"

Reino frowned slightly before replying. "While I was out behind the hotel picking apples I was attacked by a lion," he said, stopping in front of the elevator.

"Ooh, a lion? That sounds dangerous. Did you get hurt?"

"No," Reino replied, pressing the elevator button to go up, "The lion barred it's fangs, but didn't attack."

Cinders felt the otherwise empty elevator go down. Her tail tip twitched and she looked at the glowing buttons flick on and off.

"It sounds like it was a pacifist lion," Reino's band member said as Reino waited for the elevator to come.

"That was no pacifist. I'd want such a lion to be locked up in a cage," Reino replied, tapping his foot in impatiently, "I'm really tired."

"You haven't been peeping at other people's past again have you?" the man asked.

Cinders's ears twitched as the elevator dinged to alert Reino that the elevator had arrived. She watched the door slide open and Reino walked in.

"I didn't exactly peep. It came into me involuntarily," Reino said, not noticing Cinders in the elevator.

"The owner had a surprisingly wild past considering his age at the time," Reino said, walking into the elevator.

"Was it really that amazing? It sounds very interesting, this guy's past."

"I don't want to see that man again though," Reino said, watching the elevator doors slide shut, "I don't want to see the details of his past either."

He hung up the phone as the elevator headed upstairs. Cinders watched him quietly, seeing his aura. She could tell that he was able to see spirits and things better than Kyoko could.

Reino finally felt that Cinders was there and looked at her curiously. "What are you doing here little one?" he asked.

Cinders mewed at him, walking over and rubbing against his leg. Reino chuckled and knelt to pet her.

"You're not exactly what you appear to be are you?" he asked, picking her up and scratching her chin.

Cinders purred, her eyes closing. Reino pet her till the elevator dinged to indicate he had reached his floor. He set her down and left the elevator.

Reino turned around as the doors slid shut again and he saw a young, teenage girl with long, straight black hair and green eyes. She smiled and waved as the doors shut.

* * *

**So, there you go. I know that I'm probably going to get a bunch of Reino bashing, but whatever. I don't really think he gets as much attention as he should.**

**Hopefully I will post again before I have to go back to school half-way through January.  
**


	20. Chapter 17

**Yeah, I didn't make my deadline but at least I made it in the right month. So, here's the next chapter and thanks to flamingbunnies for the support. I found a site where they are continuing the manga, if very slowly. **http:/ www. thespectrum .net/

**Disclaimer: I don't own Skip Beat! and the idea for the tv program is a combination of books I've read and television series.

* * *

**Several months after Ren finally found his 'Katsuki', Kyoko was called to the president's office. She was surprised to see Ren, Cinders, and Matt already there. Matt shrugged, indicating that he didn't know why they were there either. She went and stood with them, taking Cinders from Ren and petting the small cat.

"I bet you are all wondering why I called you here," President Lory said, beaming at them happily.

"Personally sir, I'm wondering more why you specifically asked that I bring Cinders with me," Ren said, pointing to the small cat who was purring.

Lory nodded, holding up a hand to indicate he would continue to explain. "Yes, I have a new television drama that I would like all of you to participate in, including Cinders. In fact, she will play a very large roll in the drama if she will be so kind as to follow the directions of the script."

"What is this new drama about?" Matt asked.

"SPIS: Space Police Investigation Service. Also pronounced as 'spies'. Since realistic police programs are such a hit in the United States, I've decided to do the next step," Lory said, smiling at them, "You will become part of a team of police officers working for the Multi-Galactic Government, solving crimes and helping out across the galaxies."

"So where does Cinders come into this?" Kyoko asked.

"She will be part of the team, able to reach places that you can't. She'll be going into vents, helping question witnesses, and other things," the president replied.

"It sounds interesting," Ren said, "When does it start?"

"Filming will start next week. You can pick up your script now and see if you want the part," Lory said, smiling in a way that made it obvious that there was some catch.

The humans picked up the scripts, setting Cinders down on the papers with her 'script'. She licked her shoulder as the others read over their character description, history and the first episode.

"So, I'm a techno geek?" Matt asked amused.

"Yeah, but you get to fly the ship," Kyoko pointed out, "That's pretty cool."

"But you get to be a gun and martial arts expert!" Matt protested, "That's so much better!"

"It you are all done squabbling over who's part is better, then perhaps you well tell me if you are interested in participating," President Lory said patiently.

"It seems alright," Ren said. Kyoko and Matt nodded in agreement.

"Then it's settled. So long as Cinders agrees," Lory said, looking at the cat expectantly. Cinders looked up at him, letting out a purr and nuzzling against his hand.

"I think that's a yes," Ren said, petting Cinders and making her purr louder.

"Then we'll start next week," the president said, chuckling at them.

* * *

**Well, I hope that's enough to interest you guys into coming back and reading more. No murder mysteries, but it's still going to be exciting (ish).**


	21. Chapter 18

**Thanks to all my reviewers as usual: 21han, Piacine-Jadeymay, pielovingchick, and flamingbunnies. Love you guys. You're the only reason I haven't given up and just posted the ending so I can move on.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything except this. Kind of wish I didn't own this half the time. But what else is new?**

* * *

Ren carried Cinders onto the set, looking around with interest at the backdrops and props made for the television program. The crew had really gone overboard creating computer consoles, windows that looked out into space and a few that looked like different planets. He chuckled and shook his head, glancing around and looking for Kyoko. It looked like the object of his affections wasn't around, though she might be already getting her costume on in the fitting room. The president hadn't provided them with any idea of what the costume design looked like, so Ren didn't know what it would be.

"Morning Ren," Matt called to the older man, smiling and looking around behind Ren for Yashiro. One might interpret his subtle glances as nervous fidgeting, but Ren knew better.

"Morning Matt," Ren replied, "Yashiro didn't come with me. He had to take his sister to the hospital." The manager had called him early in the morning to inform Ren that he would be taking his sister to get her cast replaced on her arm.

"Oh?" Matt said, his voice barely betraying his disappointment. "I hope she's not too hurt. That would just be terrible."

Ren chuckled softly at the younger boy, smiling and shaking his head. Matt was obviously so head over heels for Yashiro Ren wondered how he had ever missed the signs before. It was rather ridiculous how much the teen paid attention to Ren's manager.

The chuckle had drawn a quizzical look from Matt which only made Ren chuckle more. Cinders lightly batted at Ren's hand, making him stop and smile down at her.

"Yes, I suppose we should be going. We need to find out what they want to do first and maybe we'll find out what costumes they've created for us," Ren said, looking up at Matt. "If they look anything nearly as ridiculous as what Lori wears you in for helping me burn them?"

Matt laughed and shook his head. "Maybe I'd help you bury them, but if we burn them I can just imagine the look on the President's face. I don't think I could stand that look of utter misery and disappointment." Ren laughed and nodded, patting Matt heartily on the back as they walked toward the changing rooms.

~Shift~

Cinders sat with her ears pressed back against her head, growling softly as the woman approached her. The obscenely sparkly thing was not going anywhere near her tail, which was currently thrashing back and forth in irritation.

"Aw little sweety, you won't even feel it," the woman cooed, trying to coerce the black cat into putting the piece on. It was meant to be decoration, matching the collar that Cinders had calmly accepted. "Come on kitty. It's not that bad."

Cinders snorted, turning her back on the woman and licking her tail. Like the woman knew anything about what it felt like to have a sparkly, dangle thing handing on your tail. If the woman knew anything about Cinders' precious tail she'd know it was for balance and was perfectly formed just for her. The addition of the dangle would make her feel out of balance and twitchy.

As the woman continued to coo at her, Cinders jumped off the chair she had been sitting on and stalked off to find Kyoko or Ren. They didn't have to put up with anything this demeaning.

~Shift~

Ren groaned inwardly as the women swooped down upon him with the fuzzy headband. He was pretty sure that there was nothing in his character description that mentioned he had what looked like fox ears that sat atop his head. Did they want to make him look cute or something. The women all jabbered about how adorable he looked with the ears on and it made Ren wince. He wasn't adorable. Cinders was adorable. Babies were adorable. Grown men weren't meant to be adorable. Particularly not famous actors.

When the women finished with his costume and makeup Ren went to the mirror to survey the damage. He had a fox tail and ears with little hash marks across his cheeks like whiskers. In this outfit he looked more like he was going trick-or-treating with little kids rather than making a television show.

"They got you too huh?" Matt commented from behind him. Ren turned around and fought not to laugh. The poor teen looked like a dejected dog, literally. There were dog ears perched among Matt's blond hair and a matching tail protruding from the back of the costume.

"Yeah, haha. Laugh all you want foxy man," the younger man said, pointing at Ren with his hand and snickering. "At least the actual uniform isn't that bad," he commented, looking at the relatively normal looking police uniform. Sure it was a silvery blue, but it still looked normal.

"They'll probably make us do something else with it later," Ren said, grimacing slightly. Matt nodded, wrinkling his nose at the idea. He noticed Cinders approaching them and smiled down at her.

"You escape the crazy lady?" Matt asked the cat, picking her up. Cinders sniffed before purring as Matt pet her. The boy chuckled, looking around and spotting Kyoko. "Kyoko! Over here!" he shouted, calling her over.

Ren blushed, seeing that Kyoko was wearing cat ears and a tail that matched her black hair. It made her look cute, in an odd way.

"Ren, Matt, you look so cute," Kyoko said, blushing lightly and looking at the two men. They both winced slightly at the use of 'cute', but didn't say anything about it.

"Do you know why we're all dressed up as creature-human mixes?" Matt asked, pulling out his copy of the script which he had rolled up and put in his pocket.

Kyoko nodded and smiled. "Yeah, the ladies who were helping me were talking about it. We're supposed to be aliens from different planets. I'm from the planet Mao." Cinders meowed and jumped into the girl's arms, startling her slightly. Kyoko dutifully pet Cinders though, letting the cat curl up slightly in her arms.

"Looks like Cinders thinks you're her big sister or something," Ren teased, reaching out and gently touching the tips of one of Kyoko's cat ears. The girl blushed, looking down at the cat.

"I guess so. Or she could just think that it's my turn to pet her," Kyoko said, looking up at Ren, still blushing lightly.

Matt chuckled and shrugged. "Well why don't we go find out what we're doing now. These ears are going to be so annoying. And I don't even want to think about trying to sit down with the tail."

Kyoko nodded and Ren groaned. He hadn't even thought about that. The fluffy appendage would probably get pulled off if he wasn't careful about sitting. As they walked toward the director, Ren shifted closer to Matt and whispered in his ear.

"What do you think Yashiro will say when he sees you dressed up like this?"

Matt blushed darkly, ducking his head and looking up at Ren in embarrassment.

"Well at least I wasn't ogling Kyoko in her cat ears," the teen hissed back making Ren blush slightly. The taller man turned away, wondering how Matt had noticed. Or maybe he should be wondering how Kyoko didn't notice.

* * *

**Muahahah. I degraded Ren! It's funny. Well, to me it is. It's probably really stupid, but hey I had fun. Now if only I can find a good excuse to put Sho in a dress...**

**Cookies for reviews? Let me know if you like it or if you think I've gone off the deep end.  
**


End file.
